Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 277 The King adds Bai

"Jingcheng, I'm back!"

On the first day of May, outside Jiangdong Gate.

When Zhu Di shouted in his heart, officials were standing around outside Jiangdong Gate, as many as two to three thousand people.

They were all ordered to come to greet Zhu Di, but they were also happy to welcome Zhu Di.

Judging from the situation for more than half a month, Zhu Gaoxu will definitely not inherit the throne, so it is a certainty that Zhu Di will become emperor.

They must take advantage of this opportunity to perform well.

Thinking of this, the ministers knelt down and kowtowed five times: "Long live the new king, long live the new king, long live the new king..."

"What are you doing?" Zhu Di enjoyed it, but still pretended to be innocent.

"I raised the army to quell the trouble, because I had no choice but to use the army to save the disaster. I vowed to eliminate the traitors and stabilize the clan society, as a tribute to the Duke of Zhou."

"Who would have thought that my nephew, who was deceived by treacherous ministers, did not understand my thoughts, and instead died in heaven."

"Today there is no emperor. It is necessary to choose a talented and virtuous person as the new emperor. I only know how to lead troops to fight, how can I have such merit?"

"Let this matter go and never mention it again."

After that, Zhu Di shook his horse's reins and led Qiu Fu, Fang Kuan, Wang Yi, Zhang Fu and others into Jiangdong Gate wearing armor.

When the ministers heard this, they all knew that Zhu Di was going to make three concessions, so they stood up one after another.

They followed Zhu Di around the inner city on mules, donkeys, horses and other livestock, from Jiangdong Gate in the west to Zijin Mountain in the east.

At the foot of the mountain, thousands of Bohai navy have taken over the place, and Zhu Gaoxu put on a plain round-neck robe and sat under the yellow tent.

When he saw Zhu Di arriving, he stood up and bowed to greet him: "Young man has seen your father..."

"Second dick!"

Seeing Zhu Gaoxu walk out of the yellow tent, Zhu Di finally let go of his anxiety. He quickly got off his horse and held Zhu Gaoxu's arms with both hands.

Feeling Zhu Gaoxu's strong arms, Zhu Di swallowed his saliva. He really didn't know what he should do to defeat Zhu Gaoxu if he didn't give up his position.

"Let's go and burn incense for your grandfather first."

Zhu Di signaled the generals not to follow him, and then he put on his armor and rode up to Purple Mountain with Zhu Gaoxu on a horse.

The father and son were silent all the way until they boarded the Minglou. They got off the carriage and walked into the Minglou one after another.

Looking at the hanging portrait, Zhu Di swallowed.

"Dad, I'm here to see you..."

At this moment, Zhu Di acted a little cautiously, as if Zhu Yuanzhang would pop out of the painting.

However, Zhu Gaoxu didn't worry about this at all. He strode forward and lit six sticks of incense. He handed three sticks to Zhu Di and motioned for him to take the lead in kowtow.

Looking at Zhu Gaoxu's eyes, Zhu Di held the incense, put his hands together and bowed, and then said:

"Dad, Yunwen..."

"Grandpa, it wasn't my father who forced my eldest brother to die. It was because he couldn't bear to think about it and stayed with you."

Before Zhu Di finished speaking, Zhu Gaoxu interrupted him first and said what he said.

When Zhu Di heard this, he felt something was wrong. Zhu Yunwen died before he even arrived in the capital. It had nothing to do with him, so why should he have anything to do with him?

"Second brother, I wasn't here yet?" Zhu Di said cautiously.

"In my heart, you have been here a long time ago." Zhu Gaoxu raised his face, leaving Zhu Di speechless.

Just thinking of Zhu Gaoxu's strong tendons and the fact that there was no one else in the bright building, Zhu Di still suffered the loss.

He looked back at Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait and breathed a long sigh of relief: "Huh..."

"I think I was scared to death of your grandpa at the beginning. Now that I see his portrait, even though I know he is gone, I am still scared."

"You helped Dad take over the capital. Dad's love for you is not in vain."

"Yes." Zhu Gaoxu responded, but then said: "Brother, I was talking about you before I left."

"Huh?" When Zhu Gaoxu said that Zhu Yunwen was talking about him before he died, Zhu Di turned around in confusion.

Wasn't it the second child who forced Zhu Yunwen to death? Why is it my fault?

Zhu Di finally figured it out. He and Zhu Gaoxu just didn't want to take the blame, so they dragged him south to take the blame.

"Boy, you disrespect me a little bit."

He wanted to put on his father's airs, but Zhu Gaoxu didn't want to do this: "That kid will explain it to the world right now, and then he will ascend the throne."

"..." Zhu Di was speechless. Ascension to the throne and taking the blame must be tied together. If Zhu Di ascends the throne, the people of the world will also think that he ordered Zhu Gaoxu to attack the capital and forced Zhu Yunqi to death. Zhu Gaoxu was the executor, and he was the one giving the orders. of.

"You're still young, I'll make it for you in a few years." Zhu Di said as always, but Zhu Gaoxu said bluntly: "How many years will it be?"

"Um..." Zhu Di couldn't say anything after being pushed back by Zhu Gaoxu, so he could only avoid the question and coughed: "I know you have something to say to me, and I also have something to say to you, so our father and son are here. Let’s keep the conversation going, there are no outsiders anyway.”

"Okay." Zhu Gaoxu did not try to challenge Zhu Di anymore, but directly took out a booklet from his arms.

"This is the list of heroes I drafted. Please take a look."

"The list of heroes?" Zhu Di grabbed it and started to read it.

In this register, seven dukes, twenty marquises, and thirty earls are recorded.

Among them, seven names are written for the dukes: Zhang Yu, Yang Zhan, Meng Zhang, Wang Yi, Zhu Neng, Chen Heng, and Qiu Fu. As for the marquis and earl, Yanfu and Bohai each hold half.

Looking at the roster, Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu in surprise. He did not expect that Zhu Gaoxu was willing to give half of the quota.

"what do you want?"

He put down the roster and asked Zhu Gaoxu, but Zhu Gaoxu just looked at him: "I want the crown prince position, military power and the Ministry of Household Affairs, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works."

"You're leaving? What about me?" Zhu Di's eyes widened, but Zhu Gaoxu said: "You are the emperor, what's mine is yours, isn't it?"

"..." Zhu Di was silent. He could hand over military power to Zhu Gaoxu, but he had to be sure of one thing.

"I can give you the crown prince position, but what about your eldest brother?"

"Grandpa consecrated him as the Crown Prince of Yan, so naturally he was made King of Yan. What does the throne of emperor have to do with him?" Zhu Gaoxu said with a straight face, as if to say that this was not what he thought, but what Lao Zhu thought.

"He becomes King of Yan..." Zhu Di took a deep breath, but he didn't expect Zhu Gaoxu to be so sophistical.

However, Zhu Gaoxu was not wrong. It was better to be the King of Yan than to be Li Jiancheng.

"I have to write to your elder brother and ask him." Zhu Di did not dare to let Zhu Gaochi go south. Zhu Gaoxu saw through it but did not expose it. He just continued:

"After a while, the ministers will probably ask you to be the emperor again. If you want to refuse, you can, but just don't refuse too many times."

"The world is in ruins and many things need to be resolved as soon as possible."

"The sooner you ascend the throne, the sooner the world's unification will be settled."

"Ascension to the throne..." Zhu Di couldn't help being happy when he heard this word, but he was still a little uneasy.

He sat down on the futon, crossed his legs, and looked at Zhu Gaoxu with his back bent: "Although I have helped my elder brother govern the world for a while, it is a bit shallow after all."

"You please your grandpa the most. How do you think this world should be governed?"

With Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait on his back, Zhu Di felt that he had a little more confidence to speak.

"How can we govern it? We should reduce the corvee internally, re-allocate taxes to various provinces, and at the same time develop Liaodong and the Bohai Sea to prepare for the future conquest of Modong and then deter Mobei."

Zhu Gaoxu briefly summarized what he wanted to do. Zhu Di kept nodding after hearing this. He also thought it was a good thing to do, but he still said:

"When I went south, I heard that you paid more than 80% of the pension to the soldiers who died in the world, and made it a regular system?"

"This kid did it. I think the soldiers protect the family and the country. If the pensions are not enough, how can we improve the treatment of soldiers?" Zhu Gaoxu answered without thinking. He was not worried about military personnel causing chaos in the country because he only improved the treatment of grassroots soldiers. , but I am not prepared to improve the military attaché’s salary.

"These are all done well." Zhu Di affirmed his approach and said at the same time:

"This capital city is in the south of the Yangtze River after all, it is too far from the north."

"Your grandfather wanted to move the capital back then, but my eldest brother passed away suddenly, so it was delayed."

"Now the question is left to you and me, father and son. Where do you think it is better to move the capital?"

"Of course it is Beiping. It should be changed from Beiping to Shuntian, and the Third Division of Beiping should be changed to Beizhili."

"As for Yingtian, it should be retained, but as Nanjing, Yingtian can only control Yingtian Mansion, and the original Zhili was renamed as Southern Zhili. All the state capitals in Southern Zhili are not under the jurisdiction of Nanjing, but under the jurisdiction of Peiping."

Making Beijing the capital must be done. This is what Zhu Gaoxu believed from the beginning.

Since ancient times, China's military pressure has been on the north rather than the south. Therefore, all dynasties have devoted a large amount of resources to military struggles on the northern border, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.

During the Zhu Yuanzhang period, relying on his personal prestige, power and skills, he could control the heroes and generals to garrison the northern border, and entrust various princes to guard the border and control the military forces of various places.

However, the northern border was too far from Nanjing, and the emperor was far away. It was easy for the border ministers and generals to independently control huge military resources and form a military group that was too big to lose. It was also easy for the emperor in the capital to become suspicious of the border generals who held heavy troops.

Compared with the army on the northern border, the army in the capital Nanjing has enjoyed a peaceful environment for a long time. As the first generation of generals and veterans in the early years of the country came to an end, the new generation of soldiers and generals who have not experienced real battles will inevitably become weak.

In comparison, the northern border army has been facing nomadic military pressure for a long time in order to survive. The army's combat capabilities will not diminish, and the generals have ample opportunities to exercise in actual combat.

Therefore, the longer the country is founded, the combat effectiveness of the border troops will become stronger and stronger than that of the capital. The longer the capital is in Nanjing, the more unstable the country will be, and the easier it will be for the heroes and generals in the northern border towns to break away from central control and become an independent kingdom. , and eventually the war broke out again.

If you want to control the north and connect to the ocean, the only remaining city is Peiping.

The canal built in the Yuan Dynasty can completely connect the Bohai Sea. Whether it is to transport materials to Peking by sea or by inland canal, it can be said to be very convenient. The only problem is that after Peking is established as the capital, the increasing population in Peking will crowd out the northern military system. of grain.

"The capital is Beijing?" Zhu Di's eyes lit up, and Zhu Gaoxu continued:

“There are advantages and disadvantages to having Beijing as the capital, but overall the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.”

"What's the harm?" Zhu Di asked subconsciously, and Zhu Gaoxu also expressed his worries:

"Setting Beijing as the capital will naturally bring a large number of people with it."

"These populations will develop Beizhili, but they will also bring burdens to Beizhili." "Jiangnan transports four million tons of grain to the north every year, and these grains are basically supplied to Beiping, Daning, and Liaodong."

"If Beijing's population increases dramatically but its food supply cannot increase much, then Beijing will have to rely on Jiangnan for food."

"Therefore, if you want to make Beijing the capital, there is another prerequisite, and that is to develop the cultivated land in the Northeast."

"The Northeast was a granary during the Jin and Song Dynasties. Now I have been cultivating the Bohai Sea for several years and can be self-sufficient. I can even make some surplus to transport to Liaodong."

"If the situation can be restored to the situation during the Jin and Song Dynasties, and Bohai grain can be transported to Beiping, then a lot of Beiping's food problems can be solved."

After Zhu Gaoxu said his opinion, Zhu Di also suddenly realized: "Is this why you moved nearly a million people from Qing, Deng, and Lai prefectures to Liaodong?"

"That's right!" Zhu Gaoxu nodded: "Liaodong now has three divisions, and with Bohai as the front line, it is completely possible to vigorously develop people's livelihood and economy."

"If the situation in Liaodong is stabilized and the court is willing to invest, it is possible to increase the cultivated land tenfold within ten years."

Zhu Gaoxu understood the situation in Liaodong. As long as they were willing to spend money to ensure that the relocated people had enough food, clothing, and livestock, they could cultivate two million acres every year. It would not be difficult to cultivate 20 million acres in ten years. .

Even if the output is only seven or eight measures of grain, by then we will be able to support ourselves and at the same time transport millions of grain grains to Beiping.

Of course, the premise of all this is that Ming Dynasty must be able to withstand the investment of millions of stones every year.

"What you need is too great." Zhu Di hesitated, but Zhu Gaoxu said:

"The situation in Liaodong is that only by immigrating in spring, summer and autumn can cities and houses be built."

"So in my opinion, the migration of millions of people will take at least a year."

"In the Shuicicang of the canal, I have asked Cui Jun and the others to transport half of the eight million stone to the grain. There may be some loss in the process, but they should be able to transport seven and a half million stone."

"Over in Liaodong, millions of Liaoning residents have opened more than 100,000 acres of land this year. By the time winter comes, the cultivated land in Liaodong will at least exceed 3.5 million acres."

"By then, it will be able to meet the annual expenditure of two million dan. With the grain transported this time, it will probably be able to last until the spring of the next year."

"In the year to come, after millions of immigrants from Shandong have settled in Liaodong, the local cultivated land should reach 6 million acres, which can meet the expenditure of about 4 million shi. The court only needs to fill 6 million shi every year, and it will decrease year by year. .”

"This process will last about five or six years, and then Liaodong will be self-sufficient, and then it will be able to transport food to the army to Uliangha City in Modong to reclaim wasteland, or to transport it to the capital."

After gaining experience in farming, Zhu Gaoxu naturally knows how much investment can be achieved.

Invest six million shi in Liaodong every year, and 20 million acres in ten years is the most basic.

His confident look made Zhu Di a little unsure.

But before he could react, Zhu Gaoxu said: "I asked Meng Zhang to write a "Book of Renowned Ministers" and arrested 2,964 officials in Beijing, and 3,427 are being hunted outside Beijing. people."

"How you deal with the chief criminal among this group of people depends on you, father."

"However, the rest must be implicated and sent to Yunnan."

Zhu Gaoxu said his thoughts calmly. The number of people implicated made Zhu Di feel nervous: "With more than 6,000 people implicated, I'm afraid there are no less than 100,000 people, right?"

"About 200,000 people." Zhu Gaoxu responded, and said: "If this group of people is exiled to Yunnan, they will definitely promote the Chineseization in Yunnan and allow the local minority people to become Han Chinese in a few decades."

There are too many people Zhu Gaoxu wants to implicate. If these 200,000 people are invested in Yunnan, and Mu Chun and He Fu continue to work hard, many small people under the rule of the chieftains will be completely Chineseized after they are converted to native lands.

Of course, even if these 200,000 people are included, the number of Han people in Yunnan is only 600,000. It is very difficult to assimilate Yunnan and the millions of young people in Yunnan.

But it doesn’t matter, there will be corrupt officials in the future, and their fate will be in the Southwest.

They have made the greatest contribution by sinicizing the local area for the Han people.

"You are much crueler than your grandfather..."

Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaoxu with a complicated expression. He never thought that Zhu Gaoxu would be so harsh on his political opponents.

However, such a move also made Zhu Di more and more certain that Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaoxu could not become political enemies.

Thinking of Zhu Gaochi, Zhu Di also thought of things in Beijing, so he asked: "If Peiping becomes Beizhili, how will your eldest brother be named King of Yan?"

Faced with the problem, Zhu Gaoxu thought for a moment and said: "Relocating the capital cannot be accomplished overnight. It takes more than ten or even twenty years."

"Father can temporarily set up Peking as the capital of Xingzai, and ask the eldest brother to temporarily guard Xingzai and build the palace city."

"When the palace is almost built, my father can choose a place for my eldest brother to join the feudal clan."

Zhu Gaoxu did not force Zhu Di, but he knew Zhu Di's thoughts.

Zhu Di wanted to split the Mu family's influence in Yunnan, so he sent King Min and King Han to vassal Yunnan successively. As a result, the former was not good enough, and the latter never went, and finally changed the vassal status to the mainland.

Now that he is gone, Zhu Di probably has no choice but to send Zhu Gaochi to Yunnan to balance the Mu family's power in Yunnan.

Thinking of this, Zhu Gaoxu also stood up slowly: "There are many things to do in governing the country, but I believe that my father has his own ideas and judgments."

"In the future, my father will be the king's father and I will be the Eastern Palace. I will be responsible for the world's construction, wealth, troops and horses, and the selection of officials. I will never let my father lack money for official matters."

"But before that, the boy has to be alone with his father."

"Who?" Zhu Di also stood up. His usually stalwart height was a bit 'dwarfed' in front of Zhu Gaoxu.

"Ma He." Zhu Gaoxu smiled, but Zhu Di smiled when he heard this: "I changed his name, and now he is called Zheng He."

"But since you want him, I'll give him to you."

Zhu Di scratched his beard, then walked out of the Minglou with Zhu Gaoxu and walked down the mountain.

Not long after, the father and son came down the mountain and saw thousands of officials, but most of them were only from the ninth rank.

Zhu Di was surprised that so many officials suddenly came, but found that most of them had just arrived and there were still beads of sweat on their foreheads.

"Among these people, three thousand were brought by Yishiha from the north."

Zhu Gaoxu stood behind him and explained to Zhu Di that since he was going to clean up Jiangnan on a large scale, he asked Yishiha to take the northern officials to the south, and let the Bohai Chengding people go south to take over the land reclamation and equalization of land in Liaodong, Daning, and Shandong.

Therefore, after Zhu Di arrived, Yi Shiha arrived in the capital with three thousand officials from Liaodong.

"With them here, my father won't have to worry about money and food for at least three years."

There was a profound meaning in Zhu Gaoxu's words, but Zhu Di just nodded: "Since you have taken care of these things, you don't need to talk to me."

"I will shirk you a few more times, and I will make you the crown prince after I succeed you in a few days."

He made his promise and then walked down Sifang City with Zhu Gaoxu.

Seeing the appearance of the rightful master, all the officials guarding the foot of the Purple Mountain immediately knelt down and shouted long live the mountain.

Among them, Li Zhigang, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward and bowed:

"A born saint thinks that the country and the country will bring about the people. Today, the world is created by the Taizu. The people are born by the Taizu. How can the world be without a king for a day? How can the people be without a master for a day? Kuang Guo has a long king, and the country of the country has a long king. Fortunately, Your Highness is the direct heir of Taizu. His virtues are outstanding among the people, he has made great contributions to the country, and he is suitable for occupying the heavenly position. The great cause of Taizu for all generations will always be entrusted to him, and the people of the world will always have something to rely on. It is not suitable to give up. With the heart of a lonely man."

"I just arrived in the capital and heard that the emperor's nephew set himself on fire. I felt very sad. We will discuss this matter later." Zhu Di rejected the persuasion of the ministers and said at the same time:

"From now on, the old Jianwen system will be restored to the old Hongwu system. In addition, we will miss the court for three days to mourn for the emperor..."

"My nephew's funeral will be arranged by the Secretary, and no harshness will be allowed."

Upon hearing this, all the ministers bowed in return: "Your Highness is kind-hearted..."

Zhu Di did not answer, but turned around and said to Zhu Gaoxu: "I live in Jiming Temple, where do you live?"

"The boy lives in a large church, so it is convenient for handling government affairs." Zhu Gaoxu responded, and Zhu Di also nodded and said:

"There is no master in the world. Emperor Gao always praises you. Today you should be in charge of the affairs of the state."

Zhu Di's words were to support Zhu Gaoxu, and the generals of the Yan Mansion were very happy to see this scene and agreed one after another.

After the statement was over, Zhu Di said: "Bring Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai, Bao Zhao, Fang Xiaoru and other guilty officials!"

"Yes!" Qiu Fu and others bowed after hearing this, and Zhu Gaoxu also looked at Meng Zhang.

Upon seeing this, Meng Zhang took the initiative to walk in front of the Yanfu generals. After chatting with Qiu Fu, Chen Wu and others, they rushed to the inner city with a hundred Yanfu cavalry.

Due to the success of Zhu Gaoxu's siege, none of the old Jianwen officials escaped. Seventy-six of them committed suicide. One hundred and forty-seven people like Qi Tai and Huang Zicheng were defeated and captured. The rest were like Bao Zhao. There are more than 400 typical examples of Fang Xiaoru squatting at home and then being captured by the Bohai Navy.

Not long after, these four people were caught at the foot of Zijin Mountain with disheveled hair, and were held in front of Zhu Di by the soldiers.

Qi Tai raised his chin, as did Huang Zicheng and Bao Zhao, but Fang Xiaoru remained silent, neither arrogant nor saying anything else.

"Is this your purpose in harming my family?"

Zhu Di questioned the four people and listed several crimes.

Huang Zicheng heard this and said directly: "If you want to kill me, kill me. If you want to incriminate me, why bother? No matter what you say, you can't clear away the fact that you are a traitor!"

"Haha!" Zhu Di sneered and said with cold eyes: "If you hadn't been waiting to alienate my family, why would His Majesty set himself on fire?"

"Pull it down, the car will break!"

After he finished speaking, the four of them were carried not far away by the soldiers. The ministers fled and made way for an open space.

Upon hearing this, Huang Zicheng, Qi Tai and Bao Zhao cursed Zhu Di one after another. Fang Xiaoru was dejected, but then he also started to curse.

"Unfilial son Zhu Di! Are you worthy of the spirit of Taizu Gao Emperor in heaven?!"

"Emperor Taizu Gao, look at these unfilial children and grandchildren!"

"Do it!" Zhu Gaoxu was too lazy to listen to the barking of these men and directly urged Meng Zhang to take action.

When Meng Zhang heard this, he immediately ordered people to send out horses and tie ropes to the saddles. Five horses were cut into pieces and one person tied the ropes to the four people.

Along with the sound of the whip, the originally angry curses began to sound frightened and became more rapid.

Gradually, it turned into screams...

　"Records of Emperor Taizong of the Ming Dynasty": In the fifth month, Ji Chou went to the capital, and the treacherous ministers Qi Tai, Huang Zicheng, Fang Xiaoru, Bao Zhao and others went to the palace to count their crimes, and they were killed in the market.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)